


Spider Hunt

by hrenton17



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: BAMF Peter Parker, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Minor Character Death, Peter thinks he can do everything alone, Protective Tony Stark, Sassy Peter, Sorry Aunt May
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-30
Updated: 2018-04-09
Packaged: 2019-04-15 00:23:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14147844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hrenton17/pseuds/hrenton17
Summary: Set after Infinity War. As Tony wakes alone on a street, he finds Thanos has been defeated and the avengers are missing, with the exception of New York’s favourite webslinger. But what is Peter hiding? Can Tony even talk to him long enough to find out? And why can no one remember Doctor Strange?





	1. Chapter 1

Tony was cold, tired and lying on the floor. As awareness came to him, he slowly sat up and surveyed his surroundings. The harsh florescent street lights burned his eyes and so he squinted blearily around him, noticing that there was not a single person about. He quickly deduced that it was late at night. Standing up, he stumbled down the pavement until he found a 24 hour corner shop. Exhaling in relief, he wearily opened the door and approached the shocked man behind the counter.

“You’re Tony Stark!” He said, awe practically dripping from his voice.He couldn’t find it in himself to be irritated and simply nodded, not wanting to scare off the guy he wanted answers from. 

“Yeah, yeah that’s me. Can you tell me where the hell I am?”

The man’s eyes slitted slightly in suspicion before he answered, “Manhattan.”

So he hadn’t travelled far at all, he noted. But there was still the question of what had happened to him. The last thing he remembered was fighting Thanos. He vaguely recalled Steve shouting his name before he was knocked to the ground, unconscious. Then he woke up on the street.  
The man sensed that he had more questions and handed him a newspaper lying on the counter. The words _'THE AVENGERS: MISSING OR DEAD?'_ were emblazoned on the front cover. Forcing himself to keep a hold of the newspaper, Tony’s head whipped up to meet the eyes of the man, who gestured to him to keep reading.

_The battle with Thanos in New York last summer, which resulted in over 200 civilian deaths and $3 billion in property damage, was the last time any of America’s Avengers have been seen. The elusive S.H.I.E.L.D organisation have released a statement claiming to know nothing about the whereabouts of the Avengers, whose names include Captain America, Iron Man, Hulk, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Thor and Falcon. All the Avengers disappeared almost immediately after the defeat of Thanos, with the exception of Tony Stark, who vanished a day prior. Whether the missing Avengers has anything to do with Thanos is unknown, but S.H.I.E.L.D has confirmed that it is unlikely and the incidents are most likely unrelated. The city is not entirely without protection, however, as the number of sightings of the vigilante Spider Man has been on the rise, causing the lowest recorded levels of crime in over ten years. Although Spider Man was present at the battle, he has made no indication that he knows what happened and S.H.I.E.L.D have not publicly pursued him in their inquiry. Faith in the Avengers safe return is dwindling as it has been five months with no news, but this news firm remains hopeful._

Tony let the now crumpled newspaper flop onto the counter and swore loudly. Could he ever catch a break?

“Look, man,” he began, “do you think you could keep this little sighting to yourself? At least until I know exactly what I’m dealing with here.”

The guy raised one eyebrow and Tony realised it wasn’t going to be that easy. Scratching his beard wearily, he rummaged around in his pocket and retrieved his wallet, which was completely unharmed. Chucking a hundred dollar bill at the man, he muttered a sarcastic “thanks, buddy” and turned on his heels, storming out of the dingy little shop without looking back.

Next stop: find Peter Parker.

*********

As it turns out, finding Peter was easier said than done. Tony had taken a cab to Queens, managing to conceal his face from the driver. A generous tip hadn’t hurt matters either. Upon reaching Peter’s apartment, which was entirely too small for his taste, he found no sign of Peter or his hot aunt. He hadn’t been deterred though, and after finding out no information on their whereabouts from the apartment’s new owners, he had talked to the landlord. It turned out Aunt May had been one of the victims from battle in New York. She had been found lying under a piece of rubble two days after the battle during the clean up. At first, it had been assumed that Peter was also dead but after a thorough search, his body hadn’t turned up anywhere. Not that that was a surprise to Tony, who knew Peter hadn’t been with his aunt at the time of the battle.

Tony quickly decided that the grief of losing his aunt had probably driven Peter over the edge and he had run away, but as much as Tony felt bad for underoos, he was quickly becoming pissed off at the severe lack of superheroes around. Although he refused to admit that he was worried about Peter, he decided to go and see Peter’s guy in the chair, who he vaguely remembered was called Ned. Damn, he seriously needed to start paying attention the kid’s life. Besides from him being Spider Man, Tony knew next to nothing about Peter. He'd sort that out once he found the kid.  
Knowing he needed to get to the bottom of this, but still feeling sick and disoriented from his little nap, Tony decided to call Happy, who he hoped could fill in some of the gaps. Peter’s landlord was nice enough, and let Tony use his phone. Happy picked up after a few tones and Tony almost whooped in relief.

“Who is this?” Happy said shortly, but it was still like music to Tony’s ears.

“You would not believe the day I’ve had.” Tony said.

“Tony? What-where have you been?”

“Oh, you know, just the usual, sipping mai tais in the Caribbean,” Tony answered, not wanting to say too much with the landlord just a few meters away from him.

“Tony-”

“Can you just come get me or am I gonna have to walk?

Happy gave an impatient sight before saying “Tracking the call, I’m on my way.” And with that, he abruptly hung up.

Scoffing, Tony looked at the phone in his hand and said, “I love you too.”


	2. A visit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony visits Ned

“Come on, surely you don’t believe that not a single person knows what’s going on here.”

Tony and Happy had been driving for about ten minutes and Happy had given no further insight into where the Avengers could be than that stupid newspaper.

“And you’re information valley?” Happy sighed, “Look, I don’t know what to think. First you up and disappear, then Thanos storms New York. We won by the skin of our teeth, Tony, it was a bloodbath.”

It was at this point that Tony took a real look at Happy. He seemed to have aged a decade in the past four months, his hair greying and posture tight. It wasn’t a complete shock, though, the fallout must have been massive and the Avengers vanishing probably didn’t help matters.

Not wanting to push the subject further, but knowing he had to, Tony asked, “So how did you end up defeating the big purple dinosaur anyway?”

This seemed to coax a bitter smirk out of Happy and he replied, “Turns out Thanos has a bit of an ego. All it took was a little convincing and the team had him determined to defeat them with only one infinity stone at a time. It took a lot but they managed it.”

Hope started to blossom in Tony’s chest as he tentatively asked, “Casualties?”

The smirk turned into a full blown smile, “Absolutely none.”

Tony beamed back, feeling cheesy as fuck but not caring. The moment was short lived, however, and it it hit him like a ton of bricks that they could still all be dead for all he knew. It had been four months after all and their only lead was-

“Wait, what about Strange? Where is he?” Tony said loudly, making Happy jump next to him and almost swerve into the side walk.

“A little warning next time would be nice,” he grumbled. Tony waved him off, looking at his expectantly.

“Who’s Strange?” Happy asked, casting Tony a confused look.

Furrowing his eyebrows and crossing his arms, Tony sighed in exasperation.

“Oh, you know, just the guy with magical powers and a flying cape, easy to miss.”

Tony was not liking where this was heading as he watched Happy become even more puzzled. Happy quickly clarified that he had no idea what he was talking about and began shooting him concerned looks as they continued to drive, like he was the one with the problem.

“Happy, I’m fine. In fact, you’re the one whose been whammied.”

It looked like he was fighting a losing battle, however, and so simply buried his head in his hands, trying to fight off the imminent headache.

“Just take me to the compound.”

“Yeah because I was actually taking you to Disney land this whole time,” Happy bit back.  
  
***  
Things became no clearer with a cup of coffee in his hand and a change of clothes. In fact, things seemed even more hopeless. After asking FRIDAY, Tony discovered that after the Guardians had left, taking the infinity gauntlet and Thanos’ body with them, the Avengers had quite literally disappeared off the face of the earth.  There was no camera footage and no witnesses, despite the streets being packed with news helicopters, reporters and terrified civilians. This entire situation was starting to smell foul. Someone had taken the ‘world’s mightiest heroes’ and somehow managed to do it with not a single person noticing. The mental image of the hulk, a ten foot tall rage monster, being stuffed quietly into a black van didn’t seem to ring quite true to Tony and he suspected some sort of mass memory altering was at play here. The idea seemed ludicrous but it was all he could come up with at the moment.

He really needed to find Peter.

Tony reasoned that Peter was definitely the better choice to find first, rather than Strange, because at least he knew vaguely where Peter is. Of course it wasn’t because the longer Peter was missing, the more he could literally feel his soul dying.

Happy had sneaked Tony back into the compound, deciding it would be better to keep Tony’s return on the down low until they had some answers. However, that went out of the window almost immediately as the news title TONY STARK SPOTTED IN MANHATTAN flashed on the TV, with the jerk from the shop being interviewed.

“Damn snake sold me out.” Tony couldn’t really find it in himself to be surprised though, and grabbed a hoodie before heading out to talk to Ned. He took one of his less flashier cars, wanting to stay inconspicuous.

Following FRIDAY’s directions, he soon found himself pulling up in front of a large house, well large to normal people who weren’t worth billions of dollars. He hastily made his way to the door, staying out of sight, and knocked.

After a few moments, the door swung open and he was greeted by the shocked face of Ned Leeds.

“Mr. Stark? Woah, I can’t believe it’s you. You-you’ve been missing for months! Of course I saw the news but I didn’t really think-”

Tony decided that if he didn’t want the kid to have an aneurysm, then he should stop his nervous rambling.

“Look, Ted, I’m gonna need you to slow down and let me in. Your parents home?”

Ned shook his head and stepped aside, letting Tony into the house. It was very homely, not quite tidy but not quite messy, with lots of photos hanging on the walls and resting on a side table. Some of the photos even included Peter, ranging from when he was about seven or eight, with messy curls and huge brown eyes to just a few months ago. Something inside Tony panged with longing and he turned back to Ned.

“Before you ask, I don’t know where he is,” Ned told him, his concern for his friend seeming to override his nervousness about meeting his life-long idol.

“I guessed so,” Tony said with a sigh, “but you don’t have any leads? Have you tried hacking into the suit again? Which, by the way, I still haven’t totally forgiven you for.”

Ned, not completely getting the banter, was starting to become slightly overwhelmed again but he soldiered on, admitting, “He came to see me.”

Now that peaked Tony’s interest, “And?”

“It was the night after the battle. By this point all the avengers had disappeared- to be honest, I thought he was gone too. But he crawled through my bedroom window and...”

***

FIVE MONTHS AGO

_Ned woke up feeling a cold draught against his skin. Sleepily, he stumbled out of bed to close the window, not even questioning why it was open in the first place. Before he got there, however, he noticed a figure standing in the corner of his room. Very much awake now, he began to open his mouth to shout out to his parents, but he was immediately silenced by a gloved hand on his mouth._

_“Ned, it’s me.”_

_“Peter? Dude, where have you been? I thought you’d gotten yourself blown to bits or something.”_

_The light wasn’t on so Ned couldn’t see Peter’s face, but he snorted slightly “That would definitely make things a lot easier.”_

_At that, Ned laughed nervously, not quite understanding the change in his best friend. He went to switch on the light, but was stopped by Peter, reflexes sharp, grabbing his wrist._

_“Dude, what the hell, you’re being seriously creepy.”_

_Peter ignored him, keeping a tight hold of his wrist._

_“Look, Ned, I need- I need you to look after something for me, you’re the only one I can trust with this.”_

_“Would you slow down! Tell me what’s going on.”_  
_“I don’t have the time,” Peter said, teeth gritted, “can you do this or not?”_

_“I can do anything, I’m your guy in the chair,” Ned said, an attempt at breaking the tangible tension in the room. It seemingly worked, as Peter let out a short laugh and loosened his grip on him._

_“Yeah, yeah you are.” Peter then retrieved a small pouch from his suit and Ned briefly wondered how a skin tight suit could even have pockets but brushed the thought away- because, you know, priorities?_

_“You’ve got to keep this safe and tell absolutely no one you have it, okay? I have to- I have to go away for a little while.”_

_“Dude, what about May? What about school?” Ned was starting to get a little freaked out, especially as Peter’s voice began to take on a pained tone._

_“None of that matters any more, there’s something I have to take care of, something-” But before he could continue, he let out a pained yelp and slapped his hand against his forehead._

_“Peter? Peter, what’s wrong?” Ned was definitely alarmed now and frantically put his hands on his friend’s shoulders._

_Collecting himself, Peter patted Ned’s shoulder and made his way to the window, “You’ve got this,” he said, grabbing onto the ledge._

_Ned opened his mouth to call out to him but it was too late, Peter had already swung out of the window and disappeared, cloaked by the inky black sky._

***  
PRESENT

“Wait, so what was in the pouch?” Tony asked, trying not to let any panic seep into his voice.

“That’s the thing,” Ned said, running a hand through his hair, “I don’t have a clue.”

Ned led Tony to his bedroom and opened a draw, rifling through its contents.

“Seriously, kid, a sock draw? Someone needs to teach you some better hiding places.” Tony’s derision was quickly forgotten, however, as Ned produced the pouch and held it out to him.

“I don’t like being handed things,” he said automatically, before coming to his senses and grabbing the pouch, ignoring Ned’s incredulous look.

Upon opening it, Tony discovered a small, dark grey ball. It almost looked like a marble, except for the fact that it was rough and way too heavy. Although he tried not to convey this to Ned, Tony had absolutely no clue it was and was once again left wondering what the hell Peter had gotten himself into. Carefully placing the ball back into the pouch, Tony debated whether to give it back to Ned, who was its designated caretaker or to take it back to his labs and examine it further. Turns out, the answer was simple and Tony pocketed the pouch.

At Ned’s slightly distrusting look, he decided to justify himself, “Look, kid, we don’t know what this thing does-”

“Peter wouldn’t give me anything dangerous!”

“We don’t know what state of mind he was in, he’d just fought against a pissed of Titan and to top it off his aunt went and died on him. He might have felt he had no one else to turn to.”

Ned flinched at this, making Tony feel slightly guilty. Damn kids were turning him soft.

Hesitating slightly, Tony put an arm on Ned’s shoulder, “I promise you I’ll get to the bottom of this, alright?”

Ned nodded and Tony offered one last pat before turning and walking away.

Pausing, he quickly remembered, “If Peter comes looking for the pouch, point him in my direction would you?”

Perking up at the task, Ned nodded eagerly, “Of course, Mr Stark.”

And before he could stop himself, Tony replied, “Call me Tony.”

He was definitely turning soft.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! And don't worry, we'll be seeing Peter in the next chapter. Please offer your thoughts in the comments!


	3. The not so happy hippo

It had been three days since Tony had spoken with Ned and, honestly, he was stumped. He’d ran every test conceivable on the stupid ball and he was no closer to finding out what it was than when he’d started. It was made of an unknown element, it probably wasn’t even from earth, which posed more questions than it answered.

The past 72 hours had been spent meticulously combing through all the files and footage he could find from that day and Tony was at the end of his tether. He’d managed to find a single street camera that hadn’t been destroyed in the battle but all it showed was the Avengers standing there one second, looking a little banged up but otherwise unharmed, and gone the next.

So, as Tony realised he was going down the wrong path, he began to gather intelligence on Spider-Man. He noticed that Peter no longer patrolled, he just seemed to turn up in the middle of crimes just as they were happening, which was a little too convenient for Tony’s tastes. He knew Peter had some sort of sixth sense when it came to danger but this was pushing it. He had tried a couple times to catch up with the spider kid but he seemed to know exactly when Tony was coming and managed to scram before he could get within a mile of him.

However, one day, a miracle came to Tony in the form of a deranged rhino and he couldn’t have been happier.

***

Tony was sitting in his lab, mindlessly scrolling through every account he could find of that day, when FRIDAY’s robotic voice echoed through the room.

“Sir, there seems to be a genetically enhanced rhino in Times Square.”

FRIDAY, being a computer program, didn’t seem to understand how ridiculous that statement sounded.

“You what?”

“There seems to be-”

“I mean, what is it doing there?” Tony interrupted, mentally cursing FRIDAY’s inability to sense social cues.

“It was rampaging through oncoming traffic and continued to make a scene until Spider-Man arrived. They are currently engaged in battle.”

Tony, leapt up immediately, summoning his iron man suit towards him. This could be his chance to finally catch Peter.

Running out of the building, Tony jumped into the air and flew as quickly as he could to the square. As he arrived, he hovered slightly above the scene, taking in the turned over cars and frenzied civilians. But none of that mattered once he caught sight of Spider-Man, who appeared not to have noticed him. Peter was locked in a furious battle with the Rhino, who, Tony noted, did not live up to his name. While The Rhino did have the shape and colouring of a rhino, it most certainly did not act like one, as it stood on two legs and possessed insane levels of speed and strength. And, as Tony got closer, its growls sounded more human than beast. If Tony was honest, it was slightly horrifying.

Peter seemed undeterred by this and fought with a level of skill that Tony had no idea he was capable of. The Rhino charged and Peter back-flipped over him, webbing on to a nearby flag pole and swinging, bringing his legs up in a kick that knocked the rhino into a, thankfully abandoned, car. Growling with rage, The Rhino righted itself and aimed a punch at Spider-Man, who grabbed its fist and twisted it painfully behind The Rhino’s back. Despite having a clearly broken arm, The Rhino continued to struggle, prompting Peter to say his first words since Tony’s arrival.

“Look big guy, you tried, you failed. No one will think any less of you if you just give up and let me take you in.”

This seemed to infuriate The Rhino further and, with a renewed vigour, he freed his arm and attempted to throw Peter into a billboard. Before Peter could collide, however, he braced himself against the wall, a show of his enhanced strength, and balanced neatly on the M of a McDonald's sign. At this point, Tony decided to step in and blasted The Rhino back with his repulsors. Peter’s head snapped towards Iron Man’s direction and Tony gave a little wave.

“Hey, Spidey, long time no see.”

Peter, as far as Tony could tell with the mask on, was shocked but collected himself quickly.

“Howdy, tin can, mind postponing this little reunion until we’ve got the hungry hippo over here,” he jabbed a gloved finger in The Rhino’s direction, “all webbed up.”

Tony had to admit Peter was right as The Rhino was starting to get up again, looking slightly dazed but ready to fight. Its eyes immediately locked onto Peter and charged once again.

“Today was not the best day to wear red,” quipped Peter, webbing The Rhino directly in the face.

Before Tony could intervene, The Rhino shook off the webbing with a snarl and swiped a claw at Peter’s side. He managed to move out the way just in time, coming out with just a scratch. However, this seemed to be the least straw for Spider-Man and he kicked The Rhino in the throat, sending him barrelling towards Tony, who delivered yet another blow. The Rhino’s eyes fluttered weakly, before his body gave out on him and he fell to the ground unconscious.

Peter, ever the good Samaritan, kneeled down beside The Rhino and checked his pulse, nodding in satisfaction as he found one. He then began to web him up liberally, ensuring that he wouldn’t be able to go anywhere for the next hundred or so years.

Once he was done with that, he looked towards Tony, uncertainty clouding his posture.

“Come on then,” and with no further warning, Peter swung away.

Tony scrambled to follow him, wondering at what point he started bending to the whims of 16 year old boys.

Peter lead him several blocks away, finally landing on the roof of an apartment complex.

“I can’t tell you a lot.” He said simply.

Opening the suit up, Tony stepped out and walked closer to Peter, wanting to start this conversation off a little more personally.

“Oh yeah? Because you’re on a super secret mission?”

“You could say that.”

Tony sighed, understanding that this approach was going to get him nowhere.

“Let’s start with why you’ve been M.I.A."

Peter already looked uncomfortable, shrugging slightly, before realising he’d probably need to give a more decisive answer.

“Something came up.” At Tony’s raised eyebrow he continued, “Something that demands the attention of Spider-Man a little more than the world needs Peter Parker.”

“Kid, you’re being way too mysterious for my liking. Could you at least take the mask off?” Tony’s attempt at sounding stern wavered slightly at that last part, desperation entering his tone.

Peter paused for a moment and Tony honestly thought he was going to bolt, but he didn’t and slowly took off the mask.

“Kid...”

Honestly, Peter looked like he was on drugs or something. His face was pale and gaunt, deep dark circles marking his under eyes like crescent moons.

Peter put an end to Tony’s concerned stare with a raised hand.

“I’m not depressed or anything, this job has just been big. Like I said, it demands a lot.”

“Peter what happened? Just quit the whole art of evasion act, you’re acting like Fury.”

Smirking slightly at that, Peter began to reply, when he was cut off by Tony.

“You’ve met Fury? Has that bloody pirate got you involved in whatever the hell this is?”

“Mr. Stark, please, I’m handling this. Enough people are in danger because of this and I refuse to add you to that list, it’s enough that I dragged Ned into it.”

“You mean with this?” Tony retrieved the pouch with the ball in it from his pocket, watching in confusion as Peter visibly flinched and stepped backwards.

In an uncharacteristic display of anger, Peter shouted, “Why did you take that? I told Ned to keep it to himself.”

“I don’t think he naturally assumed he should keep secrets from the Iron Man. And neither should you.” He added.

“All you need to know is to keep that thing away from me. Strange sacrificed too much just to have-”

“Strange is in on this too? I can't believe you kicked me out of the club."

Something dark began to shadow Peter’s ordinarily bright eyes and he ran to the ledge of the roof.

“Stay out of it,” Peter ground out, venom lacing his tone.

“Underoos-”

The kid’s face softened at that.

“Just lock that thing away. It’s too dangerous.”

“Peter-”

“Please.” And with that Peter flung himself off the building and swung away. Tony made to follow him but found his shoes stuck firmly to the roof.

Cursing, he fumbled to get his shoes off without getting webbing on his hands. By the time he was done, Peter was long gone, leaving Tony more desperate than ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Peter finally showed up! I'm thinking of doing his point of view in the next chapter. But obviously I need to find a way to do that without giving away the entire plot.  
> Well, tell me your thoughts!


	4. Under a celestial fireball

THE BATTLE- PETER'S POV _  
_

_The fight raged and roared, rearing its ugly head and leaving insurmountable losses in its wake. Peter had stayed strong throughout, swinging and webbing and punching and kicking like hellfire unleashed. Amidst the chaos, he found he had strayed to Queens, guided by a deep and guttural need to protect his home. To protect those who couldn’t protect themselves- he was the friendly neighbourhood spider, after all. Debris lay at his feet and lasers from alien tech exploded around him like a canopy of fireworks. As he reached his apartment, he found himself standing in a wasteland. Burnt and blackened bodies surrounded him and he looked away, suppressing the urge to throw up. A whisper carried itself through the wind like a harbinger of death._

“ _Peter.”_

_He moved faster than he’d ever moved before, dredging up every reserve of his energy. And there, lying as still as a picture was his aunt, blood encircling her head her like a halo. Falling to his knees, Peter took her hand in his, ignoring its limpness and iciness. After all his aunt was warm, warm like hot cocoa and summer nights but also as ferocious as a raging fire._

_Her voice was weak, worlds melding together, lacking the sheer strength to enunciate, but Peter caught the only phrase needed to break him._

“ _Baby, it hurts.”_

_Pushing aside his own torment, Peter reassured her gently, “Look at me,” her glassy brown eyes met his. “You’re going to pull through this.”_

_She smiled softly at that, reaching to cradle his cheek with her free hand._

“ _Be okay, Peter, promise me.” Her voice gained a far away quality, but her eyes looked suddenly urgent. So much so, that Peter rushed to placate her, as much as it tore at him._

“ _I promise, Aunt May, I swear.” He managed._

_May’s head began to tilt to side, towards the carnage of the battlefield but Peter stopped her movement with a gloved hand, not wanting the overwhelming bloodshed to be her last sight._

“ _Look at the sky, Aunt May.”_

_Her eyes travelled lazily upwards, taking in the pale pink sky and the setting sun, the only thing unaffected by Thanos’ wrath. Finally seeming content, she allowed her heavy eyes to drift closed, guided by the ethereal glow of the melting sun. Her arm dropped from Peter’s face, landing with a tragic finality beside her._

_Peter had always admired the idea of an afterlife. The possibility that there was something beyond the cold and unforgiving life he was doomed to remain trapped in. But taking in his aunt’s hollow and motionless form, he found it suddenly impossible to hope of a respite, an end to this unrelenting misery._

_His aunt was gone and Peter was alone._

_For a moment he sat, suspended in time, clutching his aunt’s porcelain body, allowing himself to be engulfed by wave of grief._

_But then his moment was up and Peter was snapped back into reality. Placing his aunt carefully on the ground, he forced down his all-consuming despair and stood on shaky legs, stumbling back into the fray._

 

**Author's Note:**

> Please like and comment!


End file.
